Hello everybody, I am a 31 year old with a small family and have been interested in real estate investing for a few months now. I am very glad to have stumbled across Bigger Pockets! I've listened to all of the BP Podcasts and have read as much as I can so far. My target investments would be to buy and hold SFH or MFH/Apartments but I am having trouble deciding on picking an area to invest in. Ideally, investing as close to the Bay Area is the goal, but the out of state investments seem very enticing as well. I am looking forward to meeting and getting to know everyone here!
Welcome Steven! BP is a great community to learn and network in. If you are looking for turnkey properties, there are quite a few providers here on the forums. I find @Jay Hinrichs website (turnkey-reviews.com) very useful. @Mike D'Arrigo (he's local to the bay area) also has great podcasts worth checking out and he gives a good overview on out of state investments on his website.
Welcome Steven! BP is a great community to learn and network in. If you are looking for turnkey properties, there are quite a few providers here on the forums. I find @Jay Hinrichs website (turnkey-reviews.com) very useful. @Mike D'Arrigo (he's local to the bay area) also has great podcasts worth checking out and he gives a good overview on out of state investments on his website.
Awesome, thanks for the warm welcome and information Leo! I have seen @Jay Hinrichs and @Mike D'Arrigo comment on many other posts and see they are very active on BP. I will definitely check out their sites and try and reach out to them. Do you have any investments out of state Leo?
Washington, DC, WA · Member since 2015 · 39 posts · 1 vote
11y
Heyy steven !!! welcome to Biggerpockets.......Be busy getting Money....try the the newest and most exclusive luxury orange beach condos..a worthy investment i say.....
Wow I am honored to have so many replies and warm welcomes! I haven't quite figured out how to properly @ mention someone yet, does it not yet work on mobile devices? Finding this community was the best thing that has happened.
Real Estate Coach · Venice Beach, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11y
Welcome Steven! I was just in SF this weekend and loved it. I'm also on the out-of-state bandwagon as well, as I live in LA and we have the same pricing problem SF does.
@Ali Boone Yeah, LA is definitely similar to the SF Market! Have you invested in strictly out-of-state deals? Btw, your website is very cool and modern
@Leo B. Awesome Leo, will this be the first time out to the Midwest? Let me know how everything goes!
@Larry Fried Oh ok that's great. When I first started looking at potential markets, Jacksonville and Indiana were a couple of the spots I saw that had great potential for me. Indiana is probably more favorable only because of the distance to California.
The difficulty in living in high-priced markets such as yours is the number simply don't work. With such low rent to value ratios it is hard to get the right cash flow to produce the rates of return necessary. Plus the down payment is very high in markets such as yours.
Investing out-of-state might be your best option. Many investors do in order to get the returns they seek. I started over 11 years ago and now it's easy for me to identify markets that makes sense along with professional management.
Look around and ask questions. It's a fast way to learn.
Investor · El Dorado Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
I suggest traveling all the way to Modesto, Merced or Yuba City. You can find numbers that rival the rust belt and you still have the opportunity for appreciation. Just my 02 cents.
Real Estate Coach · Venice Beach, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11y
Thanks! Yep, everything I own is out-of-state. I've always been cash flow geared (minus a totally different investment I did a few years ago), so that's what has driven me out of CA. I think the only, at least the best if not the only, lucrative moves you can do here are either flip (it's high capital flipping though) and play for appreciation. I think those two can be incredibly lucrative here, but for me I've never a) wanted to flip and b) wanted to bank solely on hopes of appreciation and not at least have cash flow moving in at the same time. I may go for one or both of those later, but for now I like just being the cash flow investor :) So, out-of-state it is. Better bang for the buck in the cash flow department (by a big margin).
@Marco Santarelli Yes this is very true! That's why I am considering investing out of state due to the high prices in this market. Thank you for your suggestions
@Joe Bertolino Thanks for the tip Joe. I briefly looked at the potential in Modesto but did not really see anything that caught my eye. I will have to dig deeper and also check out Merced and Yuba City, thanks for the suggestion. Are you personally invested in either of these areas?
@Ali Boone Oh ok. Yeah I am also not too interested in flipping or banking on appreciation. I was a victim of the last collapse in 2008 so I know you have to get in on the right time to speculate appreciation. And even then, it is still speculating. Cash flowing from rentals is definitely my target
Investor · Walnut Creek, CA · Member since 2013 · 219 posts · 66 votes
11y
Welcome Steven, great time to get into real estate. I'm from Vallejo as well, do a lot of my business there. I'm a Flipper but if I were gonna do rentals I would definitly go out of state. Lower cost to entry and the returns are much higher.